Ocean-nation artist collective Small Island Big Song to perform April 7 at Eisenhower
The activist-musicians of Small Island Big Song will perform at Penn State in a live concert aimed at raising awareness of the environmental plights and heritages of their ocean nations.
The multimedia production will start at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 7, 2022, in Eisenhower Auditorium. Visit Center for the Performing Arts online for more information.
Purchase tickets, which are $38 for an adult, $5 for a University Park student, and $28 for a person 18 and younger. Tickets are also available by phone at 814-863-0255 or in person at Eisenhower Auditorium from noon to 4 p.m. weekdays. A grant from the University Park Student Fee Board makes Penn State student prices possible.
This presentation is part of “The Reflection Project,” funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
The live tour is part of a multiplatform project conceived by Taiwanese producer BaoBao Chen and Australian music producer Tim Cole. They spent more than three years chronicling artists in communities at the forefront of the climate crisis. The grassroots musical follows artists in 16 island nations across the Pacific and Indian oceans in a heartfelt plea for environmental awareness and cultural preservation. The artists released the self-titled CD and documentary film “Small Island Big Song: An Oceanic Timeline” in 2019.
In addition to raising awareness of the climate crisis facing water-bound nations, the project explores a migration theory that seeks to establish musical links between cultures and accentuates similarities in regional instruments, voices and rhythm.
The Penn State performance will feature the Small Island Big Song artists Putad (Taiwan); Emlyn, Kan and Kokol (Mauritius); Selina Leem (Marshall Islands); Sammy (Madagascar); and Airileke and Richard Mogu (Papua New Guinea).
Watch Small Island Big Song artists perform “Ta’u Tama.”
Related free engagement events
In addition to a free virtual dance workshop that was presented earlier in March and a weeklong Penn State residency, Small Island Big Song artists will participate in a variety of free public engagement events, including:
• Upcycled Instrument Jam Session: Penn State students will join Small Island Big Song artists to showcase their upcycled instruments. The free public jam session and environmental discussion will be at 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 5, 2022, at 3 Dots Downtown.
• Panel discussion: Island-nation artists will lead “Small Island Big Song’s Climate Change: Our Response at Artists.” Richard Alley, Evan Pugh University Professor of Geosciences at Penn State, will moderate the two-hour panel discussion featuring musical artists Selina Leem, Emlyn and Putad. The event is part of IllumiNATION’S month of art and sustainability events. The discussion will start at 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 6, 2022, in HUB-Robeson Center’s Freeman Auditorium.
• Dance Party: This two-hour in-person event is a continuation of the Small Island Big Song Dance Class offered virtually by the Center for the Performing Arts in March. Emlyn, Kan and Kokol will lead participants in a Sega dance from the Indian Ocean nation of Mauritius. Putad will teach participants a Harvest dance from the Pacific Ocean country of Taiwan. The dance party will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 6, 2022, at 3 Dots Downtown.
Penn State International Dance Ensemble Endowment provides support.